Implementation of an Adaptive Five-Factor Authentication Scheme for Online Banking Services in South Africa

Online banking services are one of the fastest growing platforms for customer service delivery. However, the escalating attacks is forcing the banks to constantly improve their online authentication methods. To reduce these attacks, this study developed a secure adaptive Five-Factor Authentication (5FA) scheme. The 5FA used five mix modalities for user authentication: the Username, Password and Personal Identification Number (PIN), One-Time Pin (OTP), registered devices, fingerprints biometric and the Time-Based location. One of the standout solutions is the integration of active time and location to monitor and authenticate users with minimum user intervention. This resulted in a robust Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) scheme with a good User Experience (UX). This study through the design survey research methodology; two 5FA prototypes were simulated and tested against the present MFA in use for online banking, to evaluate the proposed 5FA's security and performance features. To conclude the evaluation, this study through a short survey of active online banking users, assessed the usability aspects of the proposed scheme. The results showed the acceptable levels of performance in terms of throughput, security and usability.